Sea Mist

Chapter 13

"Khushi, I am really going to miss your food," Mrs. Rai said as they sat for breakfast, three days after Anjali's departure. Mrs. Rai was leaving for Bangalore along with Aarav in the next one hour and Arnav was planning to drop them to the airport in Mangalore.

"Me too Khushi!" Manav agreed. He was leaving with them to Bangalore to catch his flight to the States the following day.

Khushi smiled at them brightly even though her heart was as heavy as lead.

"Khushi," Mrs. Rai said, "I hope you will continue to stay here even when I am not here."

"I am also leaving Mangalore soon." Khushi saw that everyone in the room was surprised by her sudden announcement.

"Why Khushi?" Mrs. Rai asked her anxiously. "Has anything happened in college?"

"Is it because of the incident with Srijit?" Manav asked, "has he bothered you again?"

"What's with the third degree?" Aarav quipped, "she may have found a better job."

Arnav looked stoic and only the tightening of his jaw told her that he was angry.

Khushi smiled wryly. "It's not about the job – it's personal," Khushi said, "My mother needs a shoulder surgery. I must go to Chennai to take care of her. I was planning on submitting my resignation to Mrs. Shenoy today."

A little later as she was just getting to leave, Arnav came to the room. "Is it about the college closure?" he asked her, "You know I am working on that issue. Mr. Rao wasn't the culprit – it was the admin Venkatesh. He was fired."

"I am sorry for saying all this so suddenly," Khushi said, "but my mother called me last night. She has been complaining about the shoulder pain for a long time. A MRI scan showed that she has a bone growth in her shoulder that was damaging some tendons causing pain. The doctors suggested surgery as soon as possible."

"I see," Arnav said, "then you must go and take care of her. But you could take leave of absence. Why are you quitting your job?"

"After her surgery, she will not be able to use her hand for two months," she said, "I will have to take care of her."

"You could bring her here."

"I don't think that will be possible," Khushi said, "my mother will be comfortable only in Chennai."

Arnav face looked thunderous as he raked a hand through his hair, "Let's talk when I get back from Mangalore."

That afternoon, Khushi sat in the KSRTC bus to Bangalore, her thoughts whirling about chaotically in her head. When she had decided to come to Udupi she hadn't imagined meeting Arnav in her wildest dreams. But now that she had met him and got to know him, she knew that he couldn't be the person her sister's friends were describing. In fact, what she had learnt about them from Ramya and Rakesh, made her feel their claims lacked credibility.

Her sister's life had also been more complicated than she had imagined. Because of the situation with her parents, Payal had relied heavily on friends which had not worked out very well for her either. Arnav's friendship had given her happiness briefly but she had lost that as well. Her heart went out for her sister.

You sisters are the birds from the same feather...

Rakesh's words had reverberated in her mind all night. Even though her heart told her that Arnav was not responsible for Payal's death, not knowing what happened exactly, would always come in the way of her feelings for him. She didn't want to ask him anything. It had been a mistake to come to Udupi and it would be better to leave now before she got deeply tangled with Arnav which was inevitable considering the way she felt about him.